South Korea Reacts: ‘We Are Weepy’

The news of Steve Jobs’s death came as South Koreans were beginning work Thursday, and the day was soon abuzz with reaction. Cable news channels and talk-radio stations immediately began broadcasting blanket coverage, calling their correspondents in the U.S. and technology experts at home for help, and continued through the morning.

Office workers talked about him in elevators and coffee shops. The nation’s Internet message boards and Twitter traffic were also filled with responses.

“Though you are gone, Mac stays on my desk. RIP,” wrote Lee Oi-soo, the novelist who has one of the biggest followings on Twitter in South Korea.

The breadth of the outpouring is all the more significant in that Apple had almost no presence in the country until just two years ago. A government rule on Internet encryption forced Korean businesses to conduct electronic commerce through Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, leaving no market for the Macintosh computer. And another rule prevented Apple’s iPhone and other smartphones from being sold here until late 2009.

The iPhone’s arrival was a revelation to South Korean consumers, even though it had been available in much of the rest of the world for more than two years. And its popularity fueled interest in Apple’s other products, leading several entrepreneurs to set up stores devoted to them. Last year, the government relaxed the encryption rule, allowing e-commerce on other browsers, and sales of Apple products rose.

Along with those changes, South Koreans became more interested in hearing the Apple story, and Korean translations of books about Apple and Mr. Jobs — some of them several years old — appeared in bookstores. Lately, South Korean media took up something of a campaign ton encourage Apple to build a big store in Seoul the way it has in several other Asian cities.

In no small part, the attention on Apple and Mr. Jobs in South Korea stemmed from a desire for the country’s big-name electronics makers, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, to be as innovative and creative as Apple.

And to be sure, some South Koreans were motivated to cheer against Apple in hopes that Korean companies would outshine it on the world stage.

At Samsung’s annual meeting in March, only three shareholders spoke and all three asked what Samsung was doing to beat Apple –- despite the fact that Samsung made more money than Apple did last year. (This year, Apple’s profit will be higher than Samsung’s.) While Apple and Samsung compete in the cellphone market, Apple is the biggest buyer of Samsung’s memory chips.

Official tributes to Mr. Jobs emerged Thursday from Samsung and several other companies.

In a statement, Samsung Chief Executive Officer Choi Gee-sung said, “His innovative spirit and remarkable accomplishments will forever be remembered by people around the world.”

“It feels like the end of an era. But his legacy will stay. We are weepy,” said Ahn Lab Inc., one of South Korea’s largest independent software companies.

“Apple changed the culture of the whole world. The motivation came from Steve Jobs. I feel very sorry for his death,” said Park Byeong-Yeop, vice chairman of Pantech, South Korea’s third-largest cellphone maker after Samsung and LG and a manufacturing partner to many tech firms.

Other tributes from prominent South Koreans poured forth on Twitter:

“The great star who initiated the revolutionary changes in the IT industry has fallen. I feel really sorry that he left so early who otherwise could have done much bigger contributions to the world. I hope the innovative seeds that he sowed to yield fruits by many others.” – Pyo Hyun-myung, president of KT’s Mobile Business Group.

“Stay Foolish, Stay Hungry. That is what IT guru Steve Jobs who died today said. His challenging sprits and passion will be a huge model to young people – Na Kyung-won, Seoul mayoral candidate and member of the National Assembly.

“My condolence to Steve Jobs who has great passion and fulfilled a new possibility of hope. Not only in the IT industry, he will also remain forever as a star for anyone dreaming something new.” – Park Won-soon, Seoul mayoral candidate and civic activist.

“He inspired so many young people to be courageous to follow their hearts and inspiration. What he said before stirs me all morning, “Stay hungry, Stay foolish.”” – Nam Kyung-pil, National Assembly lawmaker.